Lebanese Resistance Brigades

The Resistance Brigades were founded to increase the manpower of anti-Israeli forces in Lebanon and to deny Israel freedom of movement in non-Shia areas.[3] West Point's Combating Terrorism Center reports that the Resistance Brigades were founded in November 1997,[3] while other sources claim early 1990s, 2004, or 2009.[4][5][6]

Resistance Brigade members are trained in Hezbollah-run camps alongside normal Hezbollah recruits. However, they do not receive Hezbollah's ideological training.[2] A recruiter described the group as "made for non-extremist people."[2] The militia is popular among Christians in Beqaa Valley and north Lebanon.[7]

The brigades first saw combat in 1998.[3] They claim to have engaged in over three hundred operations before Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. The group was also involved in the 2006 Lebanon War with Israel.[3]

The militia is described as an "operational auxiliary" or subsidiary of Hezbollah.[3][8] Group members fight under the Hezbollah flag and command structure in combat, but are at least nominally separate in peacetime. They also receive intelligence from Hezbollah.[3][4]

Resistance Brigade fighters are less disciplined and subject to less strict rules than Hezbollah fighters.[6][9] Consequently, the brigades have been involved in a large number of violent confrontations with police, the Lebanese Army, and various Lebanese partisans.[9] Lebanese interior minister Nohad Machnouk criticized the group for challenging the sovereignty of the Lebanese government.[10]

Critics contend that the group is no longer focused on fighting Israel, but rather exists as political cover for Hezbollah's actions and as a containment group for thugs and troublemakers.[9] Likewise, some Sunnis have charged the Resistance Brigades with focusing more on countering Sunni fundamentalism than Israel.[2]

The Resistance Brigades have also been accused of converting Sunni youth to Shia Islam, a charge the group denies.[9]